Archive for the ‘Development’ Category

Talooma has launched yet another successful website to a very satisfied client. Our broad range of clients from of various industries, offer us the opportunities to break boundaries and provide a unique look, feel and user experience for their websites. Every client is equally important to us and we strive to ensure that each one is given the attention and care that they deserve.

Working with the Ignition Marketing team (www.ignitionmarketing.co.za ) was an immensely rewarding experience and we are looking forward to working closely with them in the future. We would like to thank each and every person who was involved in this project and for adding to the overall success that we have achieved together.

The time had come for us to upgrade our websites and to merge all our marketing offerings into one website platform. We were very excited for our web company Talooma to execute the project as they have been our preferred website company from the inception of our Ignition business, 6 years ago. We believe that they have provided us with the perfect solution for the vision we have for the future of our business.

We believe creating the website in a WordPress format will give us a much better grading with Google ranking. We have introduced a more functional, user- friendly website and we look forward to getting positive feedback from our current and potential customers.”

As our client relationships continue, Talooma is responsible for keeping our clients’ website’s content current, as well as optimised to a variety of search engines.

For more information on how Talooma can assist your business in extracting maximum value out of your web solution, contact us on (011) 807 6149 or email business@talooma.co.za

Nowadays a website is an essential part of every profession. Whether you are the owner of small or big company, you need to have your own website for many reasons. However, a dull looking and uninteresting website is as good as no website atall. Having a website is one thing but having a well designed one is another. Through website design you can give your business an online identity and global presence. Throughweb marketingyour business will enjoya good online business channel once you make entry in the World Wide Web.

Your website and its design represent your company and its image. Think of it as someone that represents your brand to your valued customers on your behalf. Surely you would want this person to represent you in the best way possible. So why would you settle for a less than perfect website design?

What is website design?

Website design is not about making your website look pretty and colourful. It is creating an effective interface between technology and people which allows them to present their information and use it for a meaningful purpose.

Why is website design important?

The design of a website should be appealing to the visitor. In order to achieve, website designers pay close attention to the following on each web page:

Colour selection

Layout

Font style

Overall shapes and forms used

Website design holds much importance when it comes to online reputation. A good website design can drag maximum flow of web traffic to your site. More traffic means more business and more business means more potential for growth and earning.

Where to find good web designers?

A good website design requires a good website designer. Where do find good designers? Since website designing and hosting have become every business’s immediate need, many digital marketing agencies have emerged to meet this demand. A digital marketing agency will not simply design your website but also offer other services including:

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation

PPC – Pay Per Click Advertising

SMO – Social Media Optimisation

It is important to understand that, from an overall point of view, there are many key elements that make up a successful website. The look and feel of the website is the first approach in determining how your website visitors will see you and your company. However, the content needs to be taken into consideration before the design process begins.

With that in mind, it is important for a web designer to not only design for aesthetic value, but to also understand how the different areas of the layout will affect the visitor’s actions.

Layout is one of the most important elements in a website design. A site that lacks structure can leave visitors feeling frustrated. This usually results in them exiting your website site without looking any further. Visitors need to feel guided when viewing a site and not be left questioning where your details are.

A great website design is more important the website itself. It’s the design, look and feel of your site that will convert regular visitors into potential customers.

The Apple iPad 2 has been out for nearly a year now, so it’s time to say hello to the highly anticipated and most talked about tablet device, the Apple iPad 3. The web is teeming with rumors about specs and the release date. The official launch date for the iPad 3 in South Africa is yet to be announced. However, it will be released in April to other parts of the word including:

USA

France

Germany

Japan

Italy

Switzerland

Australia

Canada

UK

So what can we expect from the iPad 3?

The iPad 3 is obviously expected to be a better tablet in one or more ways than its predecessor. However, the specs that are currently available on the internet are merely estimations thus far.

Here are the new specs. Keep in mind these are estimated specs as the “official” specs are not released and may change at any time.

1.2GHz dual-core A57CPU

512 MB RAM

16GB, 32GB, 64GB storage options

Front, Rear, and Side Cameras, front is 1080p, rear is 1080p, side is VGA

9.7″ LED display with 1024×768 screen resolution at 132ppi

GPU said to be 21x faster

Video output supports up to 1080p

Runs iOS 6

12 hour battery life

In a nutshell, the Apple iPad3 will feature a new, thinner and sleeker design, down nearly 20% in size compared to the iPad 2. It will also support full touchscreen HD display with a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536. Apart from that, the iPad 3 will have a lighter battery, reducing the weight of the tablet and will also have a longer life.

It is also expected that the iPad 3 will have a wireless charging technology, also supporting wireless data transfer.

What is the point of having a mobile site for your business? Well, 4 years ago, there were 9.6 million active mobile internet users in South Africa and by the end of 2010 that number escalated to10.56 million. This is according to a study conducted by World Wide Worx, a South African technology research company.

Mobile sites or mobi sites, are websites designed especially for your mobile device. The challenge for web developers and designers is to make the experience of browsing on your device simple and hassle free. However, many digital marketing agencies offer mobile website designservices that can achieve that.

The use of internet on portable units is fast becoming the norm. The shift to mobile sites is a result of a modern society’s needs for having internet access on the go – whenever and wherever they so wish. As a business, you want your customers and potential customers to have full access to your products and services specs. at all times. This is exactly what a mobi or mobile site will do for you. However what are the benefits of a mobi site for the actual user? The benefits are plentiful…

Improved User Experience

Mobile sites are specifically designed for handheld devices with easy navigation, less text, big buttons etc.

Faster Download Speed

Mobile sites are specifically designed for mobile standards and optimal download speed, which means less waiting and more browsing.

Engagement and Context

A mobile site allows you to immediately engage users with mobile-specific features such as click-to-call, mapping functions etc.

Portability and Connectivity

A mobile site can be accessed anywhere, any time. This level of constant connectivity provides an unprecedented opportunity to connect with you customers in new ways, wherever they may be.

Integration with Offline Media

Mobile devices are unique in their ability to immediately bridge the gap between online and offline media through the use of QR codes. QR codes can be displayed in magazines or pamphlets and then, when scanned with a smartphone, translated into electronic messaging such as awebsite URL, an email address or SMS message.

Don’t miss out on exposing your business, organisation or brand to a world of online users who, these days, browse the internet on their handheld devices.

Many people think that Facebook is just Facebook! Wrong! When used properly, Facebook can be a fantastic social media tool for businesses. Unfortunately many companies (people) do not realise that there is a certain way to go about using Facebook as a platform for business.

The difference between Facebook Profiles and Facebook Fan Pages

Using Facebook on a personal capacity (Facebook Profiles) is extremely different to how businesses should be using the platform. Facebook Fan Pages offers a vast range more to companies and is in fact beneficial to their ranking on Google. Most businesses do not necessarily see the value in using Facebook and other social media for their business because they do not understand the benefits.

SEO

Facebook can easily be integrated into an Search Engine Optimisation Strategy and what many people do not realise is that Facebook Fan Pages are indexed by search engines whereas Facebook Profiles are not. This means that you are maximising exposure online. Companies who use Facebook Profiles are at a distinct disadvantage in this case because the only people who will be able to view the page, are friend.

It’s “illegal”

Facebook has strict guidelines which clearly state that no business is legally allowed to create a Facebook Profile. Should the Facebook gurus pick up on this, they will terminate the account. Facebook Fan Pages have been specifically designed to offer companies an effective social media space.

There are numerous other reasons as to why companies should be using Facebook Fan Pages instead:

Facebook Profiles only allow for 5000 friends (this is limiting)

Inviting “friends” to a Facebook Profile is in essence spamming the person, whereas with Fan Pages, “fans” willingly “like” the page. This makes a huge difference in the quality of follower

Sending people information without them subscribing to it, will soon be legal in online/ direct marketing

The safest and most beneficial avenue to take when taking on social media is the right one. Once the Facebook Fan page has been set up and it starts attracting fans to it, there are numerous benefits that businesses should never ignore:

Woza Online offers free online tools to create a professional website for your business. Woza Online is the brainchild of a great partnership between government and big businesses including: The Department of Trade & Industry, Vodacom, the Human Resources Development Council of South Africa and Google. These entities have joined forces to create a platform from which small and medium sized businesses compete with bigger and well established companies in South Africa.

The purpose of Woza Online is to break down the online barriers for small and medium enterprises to benefit from the advantages of having a website and in so doing, stimulate and grow the digital economy in South Africa. free tools to create a professional website in under an hour

What is the Woza Online Offering?

The platform offers small and medium sized South African businesses the following:

A free website could give your small business the boost it needs to compete with bigger businesses. However, how long will you be able to compete without all the other vital on-going online support offered by digital marketing agencies? Woza online is a great product but who is going to take care of your SEOso that your website can rank better in searches? How about having a unique website design that is immediately identifiable by your clients? Who is going to do your online marketing strategy and write your website’s content? These are some very important questions to ask yourself before you jump at the opportunity of a free website.

Digital marketing agencies

The benefits of using a digital marketing agency is that, unlike Woza online, you will receive way more than just a basic website. You will alsoreceive the on-going support and assistance. There is no point in having a website if your clients/customers cannot find it. Being found and having a permanent online presence is what digital marketing agencies specialise in and in turn giving you a bigger and better ROI.

Joining the likes of Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest certainly brings numerous marketing opportunities to the table. But what exactly is Pinterest and how will it benefit your business in 2012?

The same way your business shares, comments and interacts with its social media audience on your existing platforms, Pinterest allows brands to share information or images that are found on the web. For example: if you are a clothing designer, Pinterest is the perfect social media platform to share new fashion trends, your favourite designer’s new Spring collection etc. For IT companies, sharing information around new technology is a great way to get extra traffic to your site as well as create interest around your brand whilst sharing industry relevant information.

The benefit of this however lies in the great business marketing opportunities that Pinterest offers. Ensuring that the items you share are balanced out between your own brand and the industry as a whole is however, the trick.

How do I join Pinterest?

Don’t be scared off by the fact that you need to be invited to Pinterest. It’s a simple process and within a couple hours of requesting an invite, you should have one sitting in your inbox. Once the Pinterest account/ bored has been created, it’s A for away.

Pinterest has been referred to as online “window shopping” but it is the marketing benefits of Pinterest that really get us excited!

Pinterest Marketing

There are numerous SEO benefits to Pinterest. This is one of the reasons why it has become such a popular marketing tool for many businesses around the world.

Analytics Reporting: find out exactly which content resulted in the referral click. This allows you to promote certain content.

Pinterest widget buttons on your site: Add a “Follow Me on Pinterest” button to your website. This will direct traffic to your Pinboards, allowing for interaction with your brand on a different level.

Backlinking: Pinterest is indexed by search engines on a regular basis. The more people that post on their Pinboards and the more boards that link to your website, the more traffic you will get to your site.

Use relevant search terms: people will use specific words and phrases to search for a topic. It is extremely beneficial to use search terms when pinning to your board.

Choose an appealing image: no matter what content you are pinning up onto your board, using images that will capture the attention of your followers will ensure that they are lured into the content you have provided.

Pinterest is a great way to do market research. Keeping tabs on which images people are sharing, re- pining etc, is a great way to find out more about your target audience. Once your board is created, you have free reign to pin and re- pin as much as you desire. It is however important to keep the marketing benefits in mind to ensure that Pinterest becomes an integrated part of your business’s marketing plan.

2012 has only just begun and Google is already making news in the online world with Google Plus Your World. The search engine has always brought information from across the web. Now with Google Plus Your World, Google has rolled out its most innovative gimmick yetfor its search results.

Searches will provide all web activities related to your search including the personal ones too including:

Photos of friends

Profiles of people you know or follow

Family or friends posts from other social networks such as FaceBook and Twitter

With Google Plus Your World you can expand your online community by discovering people related to your search.

How Google Plus Your World works

A Google Plus Your World search combines “regular” search results with various web pages associated with YOU personally, displaying different things you intended to share. This happens only with your friends on Google+, right within the search results.

As creepy as it sounds, now, if you feed Google some obscure keyword and this keyword is present somewhere on your friends’ social media pages, those pages are likely to be included into your search results. The outcome can be quite surprising. For example, if a friend or colleague posted a link or mentioned the name of a hotel they stayed at on Twitter or FaceBook and you performed a search for that hotel, their post will come up in your search results. This is the power of Google Plus Your World.

Who can use Google Plus Your World?

Google Plus Your World is available to Google users who are signed in to Google and searching on https://www.google.com in English.People, Pages, and Profiles will now be integrated into the search. The new features will display personal results in the SERPs, mostly from the Google network.

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No write off costs relating to redundant promotional material

Visitors can help themselves to information; anytime, anywhere, and as often as they wish – making them more likely to do so

Getting started with Woza Online

Getting started with Woza Online is very simple and it will not cost you a dime. Simply visit www.wozaonline.co.za and push the “get started now” button and follow the simple instructions. There are various templates to choose from, pick the one you like and add a few details about your business including: contact details, information about your business, products or services you are offering and so forth.

Facebook Timeline has been around for a while now, worldwide (available on Mobiles too) and it’s already offering more to the user. It wasn’t going to be long before we were able to dress our Facebook Timelines up and make them even more personal. It was promised after all, that Facebook Timeline would be able to “tell your story”.

Facebook Timeline Apps have arrived and give Facebook users a chance to share their interests and activities with their friends. There are literally hundreds of Facebook Timeline Apps that are available to add. These range from travel, cooking and scrap booking to fitness and news.

Facebook Timeline Apps give Facebook users the chance to personify their profile and make it unique to their personal interests. By adding as many apps as desired, Facebook Timeline users are able to build up a personal portfolio of interests.

So what do I do once I have added an App?

Facebook Timeline Apps create a platform for Facebook users to interact with others who share in the same interests. It is a great way of sharing recipes, workouts, reviews and ideas. The benefit of Facebook Timeline Apps depends on the App itself and the amount of interaction the user has with it.

Once the App has been added, Facebook users are able to delete posts that appear in their Timeline Feed. It is also possible to control who can see the Timeline App and your activity on it. This is done through the personal settings which are edited through the Activity Log.

Share, discover and learn! Facebook is certainly encouraging more and more interaction! Find a Facebook App that you can enjoy.

By now I am sure you’ve probably seen the acronym SOPA (and its sibling, PIPA) around the web. No, SOPA and PIPA is not Latin for salt and pepper but certainly something a bit more serious.

What is SOPA?

Well, SOPA is the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, written with the intent of more vigorously protecting copyright around the web. SOPA is intended to curb online piracy, specifically piracy facilitated by “foreign rogue websites,” meaning sites that are hosted outside of the United States, and thus outside the reach of Uncle Sam’s hand.

SOPA sounds good, so what is all the fuss about then?

A site can be shut down for a single infringing link that has been posted — even if it’s a link you didn’t post. As you can imagine, this makes life pretty much impossible for Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Under the SOPA law, infringing sites are blocked by a domain name, not an IP address. The problem is that real pirates have no problem using IP addresses to continue to download copyrighted content illegally. However, your customers will not know how to find you by IP address alone. If your domain name is blocked, they won’t be able to get to you anymore. They can’t read your blog, they can’t order your products, services…you simply don’t exist.

Given the current state of the global economy, the last thing we need is a law like SOPA that puts small businesses, especially small web-based businesses, in danger.

PIPA, on the other hand is a similar act seeking to also eliminate online piracy. However, unlike SOPA, PIPA does not require search engines (like Google, Yahoo, MSN and Bing) to remove “foreign infringing site” from their indexes. For this reason SOPA has been dubbed “controversial”.

What’s next?

In protest against SOPA and PIPA being made law, a mass online blackout has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 18 2012.